Over the long weekend I finally managed to get the first of my characters to level 85.

Decado the Druid to be exact.

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As soon as I did I hit Teleport: Moonglade to go learn my new skills, just like every other time I had made it to the level cap. Then a funny thing happened.

I just sat there staring at the screen thinking “well, now what?”

I could go run a dungeon I suppose. Then I got to thinking.

Going to run an instance would require me to wait in the queue long enough to say fuggit and log off if I were to go as a Dps.

The only way to actually go run something with the time I have available for play would be to spec for Tanking or Healing, not that that’s a bad thing.

Both are things I want to do, in fact I intend to be specced Feral (tanking) and Resto. I just don’t think I want to try learning an unfamiliar spec in an unfamiliar instance filled with unfamiliar people.

That and all my quest gear is Dps gear, as I was using it for leveling.

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Speaking of gear, I decided to grab the couple of quest blues I had out of the bank and go check the Auction House for upgrades. If this expansion is anything like the last I should be able to go pick up a set of crafted blue PvP gear at a semi-reasonable price and use that to get started.

Thats when I realised that folks had lost their damned minds when it comes to selling things. I tallied up the odds and ends it would take to flesh out both specs…

Sorry folks, I am not spending 20,000 gold for the privilege of learning to tank and/or heal in a pug.

Screw that.

Well, I reasoned, I am a skinner. I can just go farm up the mats and find a leatherworker that will craft the gear for me for a tip. Thats always worked in the past.

Tabbing out to Wowhead to make myself a shopping list I found out why Leatherworkers are charging what they are for the sets. 160 Heavy Savage Leather? and 160 assorted volatiles on top of that? Plus more for relics, jewelry, and a cape?

I thought long and hard about the grind for gear. Whether I chose to farm and have crafted, farm ore for money and buy off the AH, or grind rep till I could get faction stuff, I was looking at a grind.

Visions of the Sons of Bitches Hodir flashed through my mind and I simply logged off him in disgust.

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Logging over to my Hunter I had a good bit of fun running my first Cata instance (Stonecore) with folks from The Zug Initiave. I still found myself irritated by the change to focus however. I suppose if I played it long enough the changes would click, but for now I still find the mechanics irritating.

Thats how it comes that I am sitting here this morning thinking not about what I am going to do on my max level character, or even about how I am going to level through those last three levels on my Hunter. I’m sitting here thinking of what I might want to level next.

Right now I am thinking Paladin.

One on each side.

A Dwarf and a Tauren.

That should keep me busy for a while before I have to think about the gear up grind again.

Bloodlust, Heroism, Time Warp and Ancient Hysteria can no longer be cast while in Arenas.

BattlegroundsThe Battle for Gilneas

The time it takes to capture a flag has been reduced to 5 seconds, down from 8.

Strand of the Ancients

The damage done by Antipersonnel Cannons has been doubled.

The missile speed of Rocket Blast (Antipersonnel Cannons) has been increased by roughly 50%.

Some Antipersonnel Cannons could shoot the platform they were spawned on. These spawn locations have been fixed.

The Battleground Demolisher no longer has two additional seats and now only has room for the driver.

A PvP duration flag has been added to Battleground Demolishers. This should make it so crowd control effects cast on unmanned demolishers does not last an extended amount of time.

There should no longer be a discrepancy in time when the Battleground Demolishers spawn at the start of each round.

The Battleground Demolishers spawned on the docks no longer despawn when the north graveyard is taken by the offense.

Massive Seaforium Charges should now be useable in rated Battleground matches.

The duration of the Teleport debuff has been lowered to 10 seconds, down from 20.

The radius of the Seaforium Blast has been lowered to 10 yards, down from 20.

Races

The draenei racial trait Gift of the Naaru now heals 20% of the target’s health over 15 seconds, rather than a scaling value.

The dwarven racial trait Stoneform now reduces all damage taken by 10%, rather than increasing armor by 10%. It also increases the dwarf’s size when used.

The gnomish racial trait Escape Artist now has a 1.5-minute cooldown, down from 1.75.

The human racial trait Every Man for Himself has been reverted back to a 2-minute cooldown, down from 3 minutes.

The night elf racial trait Shadowmeld can now be used while shapeshifted.

The tauren racial trait War Stomp can now be used while shapeshifted.

The worgen racial trait Darkflight now has a 2-minute cooldown, down from 3, and is no longer on the global cooldown. In addition, the movement speed bonus now stacks with existing bonuses, but cannot be activated while Sprint or Dash is active (and they cannot be activated while Darkflight is active).

Death Knight

Icebound Fortitude now breaks stuns when used, in addition to providing immunity to them.

Necrotic Strike’s absorption effect is now reduced by the target’s resilience.

Talent Specializations

Blood

Crimson Scourge has been redesigned slightly. Instead of a 50/100% chance to make the next Blood Boil free when Plague Strike is used on a target with Blood Plague, the talent now gives a 5/10% chance to provide a free Blood Boil when the death knight lands any melee attack on a Blood Plagued target.

Will of the Necropolis no longer refunds a Blood Rune when it resets Rune Tap’s cooldown. Instead it makes the next Rune Tap free while Will of the Necropolis is active.

Frost

Howling Blast now deals 40% less damage to all targets other than the primary target of the spell.

Might of the Frozen Wastes now also increases all melee damage by 4/8/12% while wielding a two-handed weapon.

Unholy

Desecration is now also triggered by Necrotic Strike.

Runic Corruption procs while the aura is already active now add 3 seconds to the existing aura duration, instead of simply refreshing/overwriting the existing aura.

Unholy Might (passive) has been reduced to a 5% Strength increase, down from 10%.

Glyphs

Glyph of Death’s Embrace no longer refunds Runic Power when self-healing via Lichborne.

Druid

Barkskin is no longer dispellable.

Healing Touch is now trained at level 78, up from level 3.

Lacerate damage has been reduced by approximately 20%.

Mangle (Bear Form) weapon damage (at level 80+) has been reduced to 235%, down from 300%.

Mount Up: This guild perk now applies to Flight Form and Swift Flight Form as well.

Nourish is now trained at level 8, down from level 78.

Omen of Clarity can no longer trigger from helpful spells (aka heals), unless the Restoration talent Malfurion’s Gift is chosen.

Rake damage has been reduced by 10%.

Rejuvenation is now trained at level 3, down from level 8. In addition, its mana cost has been reduced from 26% to 16%.

Rip damage has been reduced by 10%.

Shred weapon damage percent (at level 80+) has been increased to 450%, up from 350%.

Talent Specializations

Balance

The Shooting Stars buff duration has been increased to 12 seconds, up from 8 seconds.

Wild Mushroom is now instant cast, down from 0.5 seconds. In addition, the radius of detonation has been increased to 6 yards, up from 3, and damage done increased by 15%.

Feral

Berserk (instant Mangle proc) now has a new Spell Alert identifier. In addition, Berserk no longer breaks Fear or makes the druid immune to Fear.

Pulverize weapon damage percent has been reduced to 80%, down from 100%.

Restoration

Empowered Touch now also affects Regrowth.

Nature’s Bounty no longer affects Swiftmend, but now has a new effect. When the druid has Rejuvenation on 3 or more targets, the cast time of Nourish is reduced by 10/20/30%.

Glyphs

Glyph of Regrowth now causes the heal-over-time effect to refresh itself on targets at or below 50% health, up from 25%.

Glyph of Wrath now increases damage done by Wrath by 10% and no longer requires Insect Swarm on the target.

Hunter

Aimed Shot! weapon damage has been increased to 200%.

Aspect of the Wild, Aspect of the Hawk, and Aspect of the Fox can now be cast while mounted.

Deterrence now provides 100% chance for melee attacks to miss instead of 100% parry chance. This means that attacks that cannot be parried, notably some rogue abilities, can now be prevented by Deterrence, and the hunter will gain the benefit of Deterrence even if disarmed.

Dust Cloud’s cooldown and duration have been modified to make it closer aligned with Tailspin (same effect, different pet).

Kill Command’s damage has been increased by 20%.

Kill Shot’s attack power scaling has been increased by 50%.

Master’s Call now has a 35-second cooldown, down from 1 minute. In addition, the visual effect is more obvious.

Talent Specializations

Marksmanship

Chimera Shot’s attack power scaling has been increased by 20%.

Survival

Into the Wilderness (passive) has been reduced to a 10% Agility increase, down from 15%.

Pets

Pets now have 70% of the master’s armor, rather than a different value based on which type of pet they are.

Shale Spiders now correctly have a special ability (Web Wrap).

Bad Manner (monkey) now properly breaks from damage.

Mage

Flame Orb now ignores critters.

The mana costs of Arcane Brilliance and Dalaran Brilliance have been reduced by approximately 16%, making them roughly equal to the cost of Mark of the Wild.

Ring of Frost: Radius shrunk to 8 yards, and inner “safe” radius is now 4.7 yards (exactly matching graphic). Dispelling the effect of Ring of Frost will now make the target immune to being refrozen for 3 seconds. If a second Ring of Frost is cast by the same mage while the first is still active (via Cold Snap), the first will now disappear and cease functioning.

Bug Fixes

Ring of Frost can now be cast, and works properly, on transports (this includes elevators, trapdoors, etc.).

Paladin

The mana costs of Blessing of Might and Blessing of Kings have been increased by approximately 217%, making them roughly equal to the cost of Mark of the Wild.

Crusader Strike weapon damage percent has been increased to 135%, up from 115%.

Divine Plea now lasts for 9 seconds, down from 15. It grants 4% mana per tick, instead of 2%, for a total of 12% mana, up from 10%.

Talent Specializations

Retribution

Divine Purpose: The chance for applicable abilities to generate Holy Power has been reduced to 7/15%, down from 20/40%, but instead of generating 1 Holy Power, the next applicable ability used consumes no Holy Power and acts as if the paladin has 3 Holy Power.

Hand of Light (Mastery): A percentage of the damage done by Templar’s Verdict, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm is done as additional Holy damage.

Repentance is no longer broken from damage done by Censure (Seal of Truth).

Glyphs

Glyph of Divine Plea now adds 6% mana, for a total of 18% over 9 seconds.

Priest

The duration of Levitate has been increased to 10 minutes, up from 2.

The mana cost of Power Word: Fortitude has been reduced by approximately 68%, making it roughly equal to the cost of Mark of the Wild.

The mana cost of Power Word: Shield has been increased by approximately 31%, but its effect has been increased by 208%.

The mana cost of Renew has been reduced by 24%.

The mana cost of Shadow Protection has been reduced by approximately 65%, making it roughly equal to the cost of Mark of the Wild.

Talent Specializations

Discipline

Focused Will now procs when the priest is critically hit, in addition to its current effect.

Improved Power Word: Shield now also increases the amount absorbed by an additional 15/30% when cast on oneself.

Pain Suppression is no longer dispellable.

Holy

Blessed Resilience will now proc when the priest is critically hit, in addition to its current effect.

Chakra states now last 1 minute, up from 30 seconds.

Desperate Prayer now heals the priest for 30% of their total health, up from a very subpar value.

Holy Concentration now increases the amount of mana regeneration from Spirit while in combat by an additional 15/30%, down from 20/40%.

Holy Word: Chastise now has a 30-second cooldown, up from 25. In addition, it properly breaks from damage.

Unstable Affliction’s silence effect has been reduced to 3 seconds, down from 5.

Demonology

Demonic Rebirth now highlights summoning spells when active.

Inferno no longer increases the radius of Hellfire.

Destruction

Shadow and Flame can now proc from Incinerate in addition to Shadow Bolt.

Glyphs

Glyph of Soul Swap cooldown has been increased to 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds.

Warrior

Charge now shares diminishing returns with stun effects.

Cleave damage has been reduced by 20%.

Heroic Strike damage has been reduced by 20%.

Talent Specializations

Arms

Juggernaut no longer increases the cooldown on Charge, but instead increases the duration of the Charge stun by 2 seconds. In addition, Charge is usable in all stances, however, the talent now causes Charge and Intercept to share a cooldown.

Lambs to the Slaughter: Instead of granting 10/20/30% damage to the next Mortal Strike, Overpower, or Execute, it now grants a 10% buff to any Mortal Strike, Overpower, Slam, or Execute that stacks 1/2/3 times.

I know not everyone can see patch notes from behind firewalls. I am also pretty sure I don’t get blocked anywhere since I’m way to small time.

Here’s a copy of Blizzards latest batch of hotfixes for those that can’t otherwise get them.

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Guild Flask and Cauldron Hotfixes

We’ve recently implemented a number of hotfixes directly related to guild achievements, flasks, and cauldrons. When first designing the guild achievements, we overestimated the number of flasks that guilds would be able to make by the time they reached guild level 10, and set the number of Cataclysm flasks required for the two related guild achievements to 10,000 (Mix Master) and 25,000 (Better Leveling Through Chemistry). In reality, most guilds have made fewer flasks than we had originally anticipated they would at this point in guild progression, and many players will soon be unlocking a guild perk (Chug-A-Lug) directly related to cauldrons and flasks.

Today, we’ve applied a few hotfixes to help bring these flask-related achievements in line with what we had originally intended:

Better Leveling Through Chemistry now requires your guild to craft 3,000 Cataclysm flasks (down from 25,000).We felt it was important to implement these changes as a hotfix rather than waiting for the next content patch, as many guilds will be unlocking the Chug-A-Lug perk this weekend. Please note that while the new values are already in effect, the in-game tooltips will not reflect these changes until the next client patch. If your guild has already reached the new requirement, you’ll receive the achievement as soon as someone in your guild creates a new flask.

In addition, we’ve made a couple other cauldron-related changes:

To ensure the Big Cauldron of Battle attained from Better Leveling Through Chemistry feels like a substantial upgrade over the “regular” version, the number of flasks it generates has been increased from 17 to 20.

Both cauldrons now last 10 minutes (up from 5).

If you’re unfamiliar with guild cauldrons, here’s a quick breakdown of how they work:

Unlocking the Recipes:

Guilds can unlock the Cauldron of Battle alchemy recipe by completing the Mix Master achievement, and the Big Cauldron of Battle recipe by completing the Better Leveling Through Chemistry achievement. Buying either recipe from the guild vendor costs 150 gold and requires you to have reached honored reputation with your guild and an Alchemy skill of 525.

Creating the Cauldrons:

A Cauldron of Battle is a soulbound, one-time use item that requires a mix of 4 Cataclysm flasks and 8 Deathblood Venom to create. When the alchemist places a cauldron on the ground, up to 7 Flasks of Battle can be conjured from it before it’s exhausted. While these flasks are tradable, they cannot be sold on the Auction House and will be removed from your inventory if you log out for 15 minutes — just like mage food. When consumed, the flask automatically gives you the most appropriate buff for your class and spec for 1 hour. The Big Cauldron of Battle works just the same, only it requires a mix of 12 Cataclysm flasks and yields 20 flasks rather than 7.

Guild Perk Benefits:

As guilds level up, they’ll receive perks that affect these cauldrons and flasks. At guild level 10, you earn the guild perk Chug-A-Lug, which increases the duration of Flasks of Battle by 50% — meaning flasks from guild cauldrons will now last 1.5 hours instead of one. At guild level 20, the Happy Hour perk increases the number of flasks conjured from a guild cauldron by 50% (i.e.10 from a Cauldron of Battle instead of 7; 30 from a Big Cauldron of Battle instead of 20). Finally, at guild level 22, you’ll earn an improved version of Chug-A-Lug, which increases the duration of Flasks of Battle by 100%, bringing it up to 2 hours.

We appreciate all the feedback we’ve received so far on the Guild Perk system, and we’ll continue to make improvements to ensure it’s a fun and rewarding endeavor.

Everyone has to have goals, whether in game or in the real world. Without some kind of plan a person will just randomly go from task to task and never get anything accomplished. Well thats the way it works for me at least.

Seeing as how I am up while most sane people are sleeping I figured I could entertain myself by coming up with a plan. Not a concrete order of things to do, more like a list of things to work towards.

Will it provide me with focus and fill me with determination?

Meh.

More likely it will be something to look back on in a couple of months and laugh at.

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You see, this morning I sat down and wrote a nearly two thousand word wall ‘o text that will never see that light of day. I lamented about the melancholy that has seized me within the game. I talked about how I long to raid, but know it’s going to be a rare occurrence.

You folks need to read about that like you need a long slow root canal with no novicane.